


Our stories will survive

by chick_with_wifi



Series: Who will guard the guards themselves? [2]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Families of Choice, team machine are urban legends, the machine's name is Cameron Thornhill, the numbers don't stop coming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 11:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11103405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chick_with_wifi/pseuds/chick_with_wifi
Summary: It’s part force of habit and part conscious decision when Root, Shaw, Bear and the Machine get back to working the numbers. But the part that none of them were expecting was New York welcoming them back like they're guardian angels or something.





	Our stories will survive

**Author's Note:**

> A short fic which is mostly my attempt to get over writer's block.
> 
> Inspired partly by the song 'I'd like to remain a mystery' from 'the glass child' and partly by some tumblr posts that I unfortunately wasn't able to find in order to credit the people who made the posts. There was one about Shaw becoming an urban legend as 'the woman with the dog' and another one saying how Root could have a reputation as that woman who is literally everyone aka 'the woman with the black nail polish'. If any of you are able to find the posts, please leave a link in the comments and I will add it to this note.

“You have _got_ to stop getting yourself arrested,” Lionel said tiredly.

“Hello to you too,” Shaw grumbled, pushing her hood down and standing up to stretch her back. Bear was sitting at her feet and quietly lapping up a bowl of water. “It was the fastest way to get in here without answering any unwanted questions.”

“And what brings you to the precinct on this fine afternoon?”

“Our mutual friend has a message for you.”

“Isn't Coco Puffs usually the mouth of Sauron?”

Shaw sighed and tossed a file onto Lionel’s desk. “Root’s busy. These are the details on our latest number, find out what you can and call me.” She gave him a bro nod. “See you around.”

Before he could even respond, Shaw took Bear’s leash and was out of the door.

In the street, she always had her hood pulled low over her face so nobody would recognise her. Reese might have been the man in the suit, but she was starting to get a reputation of her own. And she wasn't sure whether she was in favour of that or not.

People began to recognise her dark attire and Bear, because she usually turned up right before somebody was about to get hurt and saved them.

“Take the next left then duck,” the Machine said.

“Duck?”

“Correct. Aaand, now.”

Shaw turned left and leant over to rest her elbows on her thighs. A projectile brick whizzed over her head and smashed the window behind her.

“You're welcome,” the Machine said smugly.

“Thank you, Cameron.” Shaw straightened up. “Where am I going now?”

“Those hooligans that you narrowly avoided are planning to make a getaway with old Mr Wilkinson’s life savings. Why don't you go round the back and say hi?”

“You read my mind.”

Shaw jogged towards the back of the building where two teenage boys were getting into a grey Mercedes that looked as though someone had driven it into the river, dragged it back out and put it through a crusher.

“Stop right there!” Shaw shouted, taking her gun out of her holster and pointing it not at the boys, but at the bag of money on the backseat.

“Whoa, whoa, we’re cool, we're cool,” stammered Youth Number 1, holding his hands up in surrender. “You can take the money. We won't do it again, honest.”

“OK.” Keeping her gun trained in their general direction, Shaw fetched the bag of money out of the car. “That was surprisingly easy,” she said, to Cameron as much as the youths.

“We've heard the stories,” Youth Number 2 said. “My friend Mitchie’s neighbour’s cousin lost both his kneecaps after disobeying the man in the suit. I ain't taking any chances here. We might not be geniuses, but we aren't stupid. You and him are on the same side. What happened to him? Cos he hasn't been seen in forever.”

“He was killed,” Shaw said. “Line of fire, died a hero.”

“Respect,” said Youth Number 1. “You do good work.”

Shaw gave him an incredulous look. “You guys are criminals, why would you think that?”

“Even criminals have standards,” Youth Number 2 protested. 

“Fair enough.” Shaw shrugged. “I gotta go now, but don't rob anybody else ok?”

“Deal,” said Youth Number 1.

-

“Good afternoon, Alice,” the manager of the bank said pleasantly, sitting across the desk from Root.

“Good afternoon, David,” Root said, mimicking his tone perfectly. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a question about one of our safety deposit boxes.”

“Oh?” Root raised her eyebrows innocently.

“Namely, did you or did you not steal the contents of one of them?” David asked, even though it was plain he already knew the answer.

“Gosh, that would be a rather illegal thing to do, wouldn't it?”

“Don't give me that, Miss Kinnian. I'm trying to help you here.” David lowered his voice and leant forwards. “Nobody actually saw you, not even the security cameras. We can't prove or disprove anything.”

“Then why are you asking?”

“Because I don't know what was in there, as per our policy.”

“Neither do I. David, I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't steal anything. Now, if you're done harassing me I have a date with my wife.” Root unfolded her arms and stood up slowly, wincing a little. Her injuries had mostly healed but she still needed to walk with a cane.

Before she left the office, she turned back to David. He was pointedly looking at her hand holding her cane where her black nail polish was plainly visible.

“I know who you are,” he said quietly. “We are so thankful you're back.”

Root gave him one last glare. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

-

“I’m telling you dude, this is legit.”

“I don't disbelieve you. But jumping out of a window and landing on top of a car is way better!”

“No, the coolest thing she has ever done was shoot someone in the arm, through a brick wall in the dark.”

“But that didn't really happen! It's just a myth. The best stunt she ever did was when she drove her car off a bridge and didn't have so much of a scratch.”

“I heard somewhere that she gave herself a blood transfusion from some total stranger in the middle of a mission. Because she got shot and put duct tape over it. That woman is either very crazy or very dangerous.”

“She’s a hero.”

Over at the next table, Root and Shaw shared a knowing smile. When they finished their meal and got up to leave, they made sure to give the other table a good view of Bear and Root’s nail polish. Every single person on the table applauded.

-

“You guys have to see this,” Cameron announced later that evening. “Look at your phones.”

She had brought up twitter on both their browsers and instructed them to look at the trending hashtags. #NewYorkThanksYou #RIPManInTheSuit #WelcomeBackHeroes

“I guess people do know what we did,” Root said quietly.


End file.
